"Thank you for not- you know,"Castiel said quietly, gripping my arm and bringing his mouth close to my ear.
"No problem but- you should- you should talk with her,"I looked at him seriously. He nodded gravely, guilt and regret in his crystal blue eyes.
"Yeah I uh- I will. I hope everything goes okay with Lily,"He smiled as I stepped away from the front door. Claire came crashing down the stairs, her bag banging loudly against her leg.

"Bye Gabby! Bye Cas! Bye Samantha!"She shouted as she fled out the door.
"See you tomorrow Claire!"Gabby waved from a window upstairs.
"I'll uh-"Castiel cleared his throat,"I'll see you at work Frank."
"Yeah. Tomorrow. See ya!"I waved awkwardly, knowing fully well that Claire was going to want an explanation.

Once we were in the car, Claire sighing happily as she fingered the small initials she had carved into the door handle,"I've missed this car so much."
"How come when I was at the crossing, you didn't recognise the car or me?"
"I've seen a few of these cars in town so I learnt not to get my hopes up,"Claire said as I started driving away.

"Alright which way am I going?"
"Take a left at the end of this road and then the first right. So what have you been doing?"Claire smiled as we drove down the long quiet road.
"Well I went back home. I made some friends along the way and they helped me get my coffee shop up and running. I'm a business owner,"I grinned as I took a left.

"Frank turn right!"Claire screeched as i drove past the road.
"Shit. Oops,"I pulled into someones driveway and backed out slowly, not looking where I should have been. Claire screamed loudly as the car jerked violently and we went spinning.

-time lapse-

When I came to, I was n a hospital bed. A light was shining in my eyes and two doctors were standing over me. In a flash it came back to me. Claire laughing at me missing the road. I had been too busy trying to memorise her smiling face to notice the big SUV driving towards us, too fast to slow down in time. God it had crashed into Claire's side.

"Cl-Claire,"I choked out. I was still in my clothes so I must have only just arrived. I tried to sit up but someone held me down.
"Hey hey hey. Calm down there. You've been in a car accident okay? Just take a minute,"A familiar voice said.

I focused my eyes on the owner of the voice and almost threw up,"Max? I didn't know you were a doctor? I thought you worked in the hotel?"
"It's my mothers hotel. I work for her somtimes if she hasn't got the staff. That's not whats important though. I need you to stay-"
"No no no I cant I need to go find Claire. Is she okay?"I asked desperately. Shoving his hands away so I could sit up.

"It's nothing we cant fix,"Max said quietly.
"How bad is it?"
"Her right arm is broken, a couple of cracked ribs and a concussion. And the scrapes and bruises. Like I said, nothing we cant fix. Do you want to go and see her?"Max asked as I slid off the bed.
"Yes."

-time lapse

"Frank thats really creepy,"Claire giggled weakly from the bed. She was doing okay. Just more in shock. I had been told to try and keep her awak due to the concussion so I had done that by telling her about the girls. Charlie. Work. My standing around outside of schools.
"I know. I felt so horrible,"I smiled.

"No wonder Gabby thought you were a bad person. She probably recognised you from outside school,"Claire laughed harder but her face broke out into a wince.
"Don't laugh okay? Just try and breathe normally."
"Well stop making me laugh,"She smiled as she took in a long slow breath.

"Where is she? What room? Where the hell is my baby sister?!"Someone was screeching outside. I jumped to my feet as the door burst open and Lily strode in wearing a very nice outfit, heels and all. She didn't even notice me. She just went straight to Claire, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh sweetie oh baby what the hell happened to you?! What were you doing in a car? Did somone pick you up? Why would you get in a strangers car, Claire we've talked about these things!"Lily sobbed, bending over to pull her into a gentle hug.

Claire smiled at me awkwardly over Lily's shoulder, clutching her back helplessly.
"Claire answer me now,"Lily stood up straight to stare down at her.
"I uh- He was giving me a lift home but he missed the turn. So he pulled into a driveway to turn around but an SUV hit my side... He's h-here."

"Well I guess I have to be thankful you got hit instead of going home with some- str- stranger..."Lily stuttered as she turned and actually looked at me. We stared at each other silently, not moving. Barely breathing.
"Lily-"Claire started to say but Lily silenced her with a hand.

She took a step closer to me. Then another and another until she was directly in front of me. Staring hard at my face. Her eyes roved all over me. Mine did the same. She had a few lines around her eyes. Her face was covered in professional looking make-up. Her clothes just reeked of a high end job.

After about a minute of staring Lily slapped me. Hard.
"Jesus christ,"I gasped, clutching my hand to my face. When I took it down she slapped me again,"Fuck! Stop it!"
"What the fuck Frank?"She gasped. I flinched when she moved again but it was only to pull me into a tight hug.

"I know,"I whispered, hugging her back. I couldn't even handle how good it felt to be hugging my best friend again.
"Seriously, what the fuck?"She whispered. I could feel her tears soaking my shoulder and neck.
"I'm so sorry."